The Case of the Prime Merlinian
by Kaeldra Bluejay
Summary: Dave has mysteriously dissapered and Balthazar can't find any trace of him. To find Dave he enlists the help of the greatest detective duo, Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain
1. Chapter 1

This fanfiction is set between Skulduggery Pleasant and Playing with Fire, and after the events of The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

**The Case of the Prime Merlinian**

**Chapter One**

"They were supposed to be back yesterday, Balthazar!" Veronica said as she paced around the lab.  
"Veronica, calm down. There twenty years old, what do you expect?" Balthazar said distractedly as he studied the Incantus.  
"I know, but that doesn't stop me worrying," She replied as she sat down beside him.  
"Mmm hmm,"  
"You're not listening are you?" Veronica muttered, raising her eyebrows. Balthazar didn't reply.  
"Right, why don't you tell me why you're not the slightest bit concerned that your apprentice isn't back yet?"  
"I can feel... something. It's almost like any other sorcerers powers, but it feels... different." Balthazar sounded confused when he said it. "It's like nothing I've ever heard of,"  
"So what do you think it is?" Veronica asked, leaning over to look at the Incantus page he was on. It was one of the many pages Merlin had added. This particular page explained the differences between each sorcerer's unique powers. Every sorcerer had a different feel to their power, usually due to their strengths, but very few ever learnt how to tell how powerful another sorcerer was. It was one of the things Merlin had taught herself, Balthazar and Horvath.  
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Balthazar told her as he closed the Incantus and stood up.  
"Alright, I'll see if I can locate David," Veronica said as he climbed up the stairs and out the door.

A young girl was walking through the streets of New York. She was tall and held her head high, as if to disguise the feelings that were raging inside her.  
Balthazar saw her and knew instantly that she was the source of the strange power. As her crossed the street to speak to her, she turned and saw him looking. Her eyes widened and she sped up her walk until it was close to a run. He realised she must already have some use of her powers, whether or not she knew it was a different matter. He didn't bother running after her, knowing he could locate her fairly easily now.  
He looked ahead and through a small break in the crowd saw the girl glancing behind her. He cast a quick spell that made him invisible to a person of his choice. She seemed to relax when she didn't see him again and slowed slightly. Balthazar dropped the spell and quickly caught up to her just as she was about to cross the road. He touched her arm lightly and she jumped and turned to face him. She looked him in the eye and where Balthazar had expected to see nervousness, or possibly even fear, she just looked determined and annoyed.  
"Why were you following me?" She demanded, pulling away from him and stepping away from the road.  
"I'm sorry if I frightened you, but I needed to speak with you. My name is Balthazar Blake," He said, stepping after her.  
"Balthazar?" she said in disbelief, taking a step back again.  
"Yes. A strange name, but it's the only one I have. And might I ask your name?" he replied, trying to keep his voice even.  
"You can ask all you like but that doesn't mean I'll tell you," The girl replied, arrogance obvious in her voice. "But maybe if you explained why you needed to talk to me so badly I might reconsider,"  
"Very well. You may not believe it but-"  
"Let me guess, your some important person from some important business, blah blah blah," she interrupted.  
"Well, your right about the important part, but I don't work for any business. I'm a sorcerer," Balthazar said, waiting expectantly for her reaction.  
"Right. You expect me to believe that." She replied, raising a single eyebrow.  
"Yes, I do. Now you owe me your name," He said, smiling at her but she just glared.  
"Fine my name is Ha- I mean, Kaeldra," She said, "And unless you plan on saying something slightly believable, I think I'll be going,"  
"I think that you have potential to be a sorcerer. It's as simple as that. If you want to learn more you can come with me now, or just continue on your way,"  
"Yeah, you don't actually expect me to go with you, do you? You could be just another one of those freaks they show on those stupid T.V shows."  
"I suppose I won't be able to change your mind, so if you do decide you want to learn more, just come to this address," he handed Kaeldra a piece of paper with an address scribbled across it.  
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," She replied, but stuffed the paper in her jeans pocket all the same. She walked off and disappeared into the crowd.

The next day, there was a hesitant knock on the chain wire door, just as Balthazar had known there would be. Veronica looked at him and smiled.  
"I thought she would have had more sense," Veronica almost ruined it by laughing.  
"She's almost like you," Balthazar said as he climbed up the stairs and opened the door.  
"Before you say anything, I am not putting one foot inside that door until I see some real proof, something to show me your not just some old creep," Kaeldra said, her arms folded over her chest.  
"That's understandable. But I can't show you anything out here, it's one of our rules," Balthazar replied.  
"Right, but one thing I think is common knowledge, is that a sorcerer, or magician, or whatever you want to call them, are always bound by their word."  
"That's true in most cases. I, and my partner, are unable to break our word, but that is a choice. When you become a sorcerer you take certain vows about things like that,"  
"Yeah, I might be more likely to believe you if I could talk to your _partner_," Kaeldra scowled at his confusing answer.  
He smiled and turned around to call down the stairs. "Veronica, why don't you come up and see if you can convince Kaeldra,"  
"_Veronica?"_ Kaeldra said in disbelief.  
Veronica came up behind Balthazar and she grinned at the stunned girl on the doorstep.  
"So Kaeldra, you're not very trusting person are you?" She said, her voice light and friendly.  
"I can be. Just not when a complete stranger follows me on the street and tells me he's a sorcerer, and that I might be too,"  
"I can understand that. At least you didn't get told when anything to do with sorcerery was punished by burning," Veronica said, laughing at her tone.  
"Fine, but I still want proof, or I'm leaving," She answered, leaving no question as to whether she was serious or not.  
"Correction. She's worse then you, Veronica." Balthazar muttered. Both of them ignored him.  
"Look, Balthazar's right when he said we can't show you anything out here, but if you come in, I swear that we'll tell you anything you want to know, and show you that were telling you the truth," Veronica said, reaching for Kaeldra's hand. The girl stepped back, shying away from Veronica's hand. Kaeldra pursed her lips, considering for a minute, and then nodded. "I'll come, but only if you leave the door open and I can leave whenever I want,"  
"Done. Now will you come in?" Balthazar said. He held the door open and gestured for her to walk in. She stepped past Veronica and Balthazar and went carefully down the stairs. Veronica did a quick spell to hold the door open and followed Balthazar down after the girl.

"You know, I think you've caught on the fastest to magic. It's been two weeks and you've almost mastered the basics already." Kaeldra grinned and sat down on one of the seats she'd just been levitating. "Of course, there's a lot more after the basics but you're doing well so far,"  
"You have to ruin every complement don't you, Balthazar?" Kaeldra said.  
"I try." He replied from his position on the walkway above her. Kaeldra laughed at him and he said, "I think I preferred it when you weren't so arrogant,"  
"Oh, I was always arrogant, you just didn't know me," She replied. Kaeldra studied the ring Balthazar had given her that day when she had first entered the lab. It was silver with almost an 'X' on the front, surrounded by black. It wasn't what she had expected but it was a gorgeous ring.  
The door opened and Veronica came down the stairs looking worried.  
"Balthazar, there's still no word from Dave. I really think we should go find him. Its been almost two months!"  
"I agree. He's been gone too long. He didn't really have a plan for where he was going did he?" Balthazar replied, taking Veronica's hand and bringing her down to where Kaeldra was sitting.  
"No. You know what he's like better than I do. He's not really the 'run-off' type,"  
"This is David, the Prime Merlinian right? Don't you think that some people might find that a bit tempting? I mean, if he's that powerful, then there are going to be people who'd want that." Kaeldra put in.  
"True... I have a friend who may be able to help us. He lives in Ireland, but I think he'd be willing to help if we went over there," Balthazar said, rubbing his chin as he thought.  
"What does this friend of yours do? And who is he?" Veronica asked.  
"Well, I can answer your two questions with one reply. He's the Skeleton Detective,"


	2. Chapter 2

The Sorcerer's Apprentice/Skulduggery Pleasant Fanfiction: Chapter 2

"So what's he like, this Skeleton Detective?" Kaeldra asked as the giant steel eagle landed in front of the abandoned Wax Museum in Dublin and she jumped lightly to the ground.  
Balthazar dropped down after her and replied "Well, Veronica says that we're incredibly alike, though I've never understood why," He looked up at the eagle as it took off and disappeared into the night sky. "Yeah, that's not what I meant. Why is he a _Skeleton _Detective?" Kaeldra said to him as he looked around.  
"Well, I think that would be rather obvious," A voice said from behind them and Balthazar grinned as Kaeldra jumped and whirled around. Standing behind them near a black Bentley was a dark-haired girl that looked about thirteen and beside her was a skeleton in a suit.  
"What the-" Kaeldra started and Balthazar interrupted her.  
"Skulduggery," He said and stepped forward to shake the skeleton's hand.  
"Good to see you again, Balthazar," the skeleton, Skulduggery, said. "I'd like you to meet my partner and student, Valkyrie,"  
Valkyrie smiled and said "Hi, I'm Valkyrie Cain,"  
"Nice to meet you. This is my newest apprentice, Kaeldra," Balthazar said and Kaeldra realised that no one else seemed the slightest bit surprised that there was a _skeleton _talking to them.  
"Um, hi?" Kaeldra said, still a bit confused.  
"Once you get to know her she won't stop talking." Balthazar said, looking at his apprentice in surprise.  
"Probably get along with Valkyrie then." Then to Kaeldra, Skulduggery said, "Don't worry, you're not the only one whose never seen a living skeleton. Long story short, I died, but didn't move on. So here I am,"  
"Right. Because that's not weird at all," Kaeldra said, still slightly puzzled.  
"You're taking the fact there's a skeleton talking to you better than I did. I mean, I fainted when I first saw him," Valkyrie said, smiling at the other girl.  
"Well, now that we have pleasantries out of the way, can we get back to the reason we're here?" Balthazar said.  
"Small talk over already, Balthazar?" Skulduggery said, but led them into the Waxworks and through to the Sanctuary all the same.

After Skulduggery introduced Balthazar and Kaeldra to Guild, the new Grand Mage, they moved off into a smaller room. Balthazar and Skulduggery instantly started talking about what could have happened to Dave, so Valkyrie and Kaeldra sat on the table against the wall.  
"So, do your parents know about the whole magic business?" Valkyrie asked Kaeldra.  
"Well, uh, no." Kaeldra replied looking down at her hands in her lap, her legs swinging under the table.  
"What do you mean?" Valkyrie sounded as confused as she felt.  
"My mum died, a few weeks ago. It had just been us for a while," Kaeldra said.  
"Oh. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked,"  
"No, it's alright. It was just a question. What about your parents?"  
"They don't know. I have this thing called a reflection, it takes over my life when I'm gone," Valkyrie said, trying to look Kaeldra in the eye.  
"That's pretty cool." Kaeldra replied looking at Valkyrie and smiled.  
"So, is Kaeldra your real name, or is it your taken name?"  
"I suppose it's my taken name. I've heard heaps of stories about how people use your name to control you and all that, so even before I met Balthazar I'd come up with it."  
"Strange world we live in, huh?"  
"Couldn't agree more," They didn't say anything for a moment.  
"Yeah. So, Skulduggery only told me that Balthazar's apprentice is missing. Do you know what actually happened?" Valkyrie asked.  
"We don't know much. Basically, Dave's twenty; he went away with his girlfriend. They were supposed to be back a month later, but they didn't show. That's when I met Balthazar. A few days later, Veronica, Balthazar's partner, was getting worried, so Balthazar called Skulduggery to help find him. I've only been doing magic for like a week, so Balthazar thought it would be safer for me to go with him, while Veronica stayed in New York in case Dave turned up,"  
"So Dave is like this big hero isn't he? The Prime something-or-other, right?"  
Kaeldra nodded and elaborated "Prime Merlinian. I read about the stuff about him in the Incantus, plus what Balthazar's told me. He saved the world from Morgana before he left,"  
"The Incantus?" Valkyrie said, puzzled.  
"You don't know what the Incantus is? It's like a giant history book, but it's all about sorcerery stuff,"  
"Sounds pretty cool," They lapsed into silence for a few minutes.  
Balthazar and Skulduggery stopped talking and Skulduggery pulled out his phone and dialled a number. Balthazar walked over to the girls and lent against the wall beside the table.  
"Skulduggery's calling a woman who should be able to find where Dave and Becky are," Balthazar told them. Kaeldra nodded in response.  
"Wait, did he say who?" Valkyrie asked.  
"Adeline, or something like that." Balthazar answered.  
Valkyrie groaned and said "Great. It had to be Adeline, didn't it,"  
Kaeldra raised an eyebrow at her. "What's wrong with her?"  
"You'll find out when you meet her," Skulduggery said as he put his phone back in his pocket, "Adeline said she'll see if she can find anything before we get there,"  
"Skulduggery! Do we really have to see _her_ again?" Valkyrie whined.  
"Yes. This can't possibly be any worse than visiting your relatives can it? You could stay here with Guild if you like," Skulduggery replied.  
"I'm coming!" Valkyrie said, jumping off the table and heading for the door.  
"We better get going before she changes her mind again," Skulduggery said to Balthazar and Kaeldra, and the four of them walked back out onto the street.  
As Skulduggery climbed in behind the wheel of his car, Balthazar said "Nice. Good to see you still have your taste in cars,"  
Balthazar took the passenger seat and Valkyrie and Kaeldra both slid into the back seat.  
"Don't get him started on the car. Please don't!" Valkyrie begged Balthazar and Skulduggery laughed as he pulled out onto the road.  
"Once I start talking about anything to do with cars, Valkyrie tends to get a bit left behind,"  
"Veronica does too, so I try not to talk about cars too much when she's around," Balthazar said.  
"Well, that'd understandable," Skulduggery replied. Valkyrie looked questionably at Kaeldra and she answered, "Veronica was locked in the Grimhold, a little magical prison, for about a thousand years,"  
"Ah, well that would make sense," Valkyrie replied.  
"So Balthazar, your living in New York now?" Skulduggery said looking briefly at the other man.  
"Is that supposed to be a question?" Balthazar replied.  
"Well, I couldn't help but notice that Kaeldra isn't American,"  
"I'm Australian, actually," Kaeldra butted in.  
"Really?" Valkyrie asked, "You're not exactly what I'd expect an Australian to be,"  
"Why? Because I'm not walking around in a singlet, shorts and thongs, saying 'G'day mate' to everyone I see?"  
"Kinda, yeah," Valkyrie said weakly.  
"I could say the same thing about you Irish girl,"  
Balthazar and Skulduggery looked at each other and Skulduggery shook his head sadly while Balthazar laughed.  
"So then how was it that Balthazar managed to recruit you?" Skulduggery asked.  
"I, ah, I was on holiday, with my mum in New York, and we were in a car accident. She died," Kaeldra told them. Valkyrie smiled at her sadly.  
"I'm sorry. Don't you have any other family?" Skulduggery asked.  
"Why are people always sorry? It's not like you had anything to do with it. But, no. I don't have any family. Dad left years ago and it's just been me and mum since. We travelled a lot," Kaeldra answered, grinning slightly. Only Balthazar could tell that the smile was fake.  
" So, you're what, fourteen? You have no family, and you trusted a complete stranger when he said he was a sorcerer?" Skulduggery said.  
"It wasn't that easy to persuade her. Veronica convinced her in the end," Balthazar put in.  
"Ok! Enough about me!" Kaeldra said loudly, "What about this Adeline person?"  
"She's a strange person-" Skulduggery started.  
"Well that's putting it mildly, isn't it?" Valkyrie interrupted.  
"Yes, probably. Her powers are as strange as her personality. She can turn into anything, living or not, and she can locate anyone or anything, no matter how far away they are," Skulduggery finished.  
"So we're hoping Adeline can help us find Dave," Balthazar added, "But since Veronica and I couldn't find him, I don't know if she'll have any luck,"  
"She can also see the future and past sometimes," Said Skulduggery as an afterthought.  
"Past and future?" Kaeldra asked.  
Balthazar elaborated "She can look into someone's past if she's close to them, and occasionally gets visions of the future,"  
"And I think she saw something about me, and that's why she hates me so much," Valkyrie said, to no one in particular.  
"Well, you can ask her what she saw in a minute because we're here," Skulduggery said as her pulled up a driveway to an old house. It was brightly coloured, in yellows and reds, and the front had tons of overgrown rose bushes.  
Skulduggery led the way to the front door and knocked loudly. A few seconds later the sound of bare feet could be heard and the door was yanked open. Standing in the doorway was a girl who looked around eighteen, with shoulder length black hair.  
"Hi Skulduggery! Knew you'd be coming around again soon. Lovely to see you Valkyrie," the girl, who was obviously Adeline said. Her voice was heavy with sarcasm when she addressed Valkyrie. All Valkyrie did was glare.  
"It's nice to see you too Adeline. This is Balthazar and Kaeldra," Skulduggery replied. Adeline seemed to only just realise Balthazar and Kaeldra were standing back behind Skulduggery and Valkyrie.  
"Oh! Hello to you two as well. Are you coming in then?" Adeline said and turned back into the house. She walked down the hallway and disappeared around a corner.  
Skulduggery and Balthazar followed her a second later, leaving the girls to follow behind.  
"See what I mean yet?"Valkyrie said to Kaeldra quietly as they walked into a large room. Kaeldra grinned at her and almost started laughing.  
The room they were in was almost a study, but there was a big flat screen T.V on one wall, and the rest were lined with books of all sizes. In the middle of the room, Adeline was sitting in a comfortable looking chair with her feet up on the huge desk in front of her.  
" So, Balthazar. Skulduggery told me that you want me to help find your missing apprentice," Adeline said, leaning back in her chair.  
"Is there a question there?" Balthazar replied.  
Adeline laughed and Kaeldra could swear she could hear Valkyrie grinding her teeth.  
"Well, I suppose you'll be glad to know that Dave is still alive," Adeline said, leaning back on her chair. Valkyrie walked passed her and waved her hand slightly. Adeline's chair wobbled and fell backwards to the ground. Adeline squealed and rolled back off the chair.  
"Valkyrie!" Skulduggery scolded her. Balthazar looked at Kaeldra as she started laughing. She clamped her mouth shut and tried to stop her shoulders from shaking.  
Adeline scrambled to her feet and glared at Valkyrie.  
"Woops. _Sorry_," Valkyrie replied, grinning when she saw Kaeldra.  
Kaeldra managed to compose herself enough to mouth '_ I see what you mean'_ to Valkyrie.  
"Thank you for that," Adeline muttered, straightening the chair.  
"If these two year olds can contain themselves for a minute," Skulduggery said, making the girls grin at each other, "it would be good to know what you've found,"  
"Since you asked nicely. I can't actually find him, but I know he's not dead. So that usually means someone bound their powers, because that's what I use to locate them," Adeline answered, leaning against her desk.  
"Then you think someone must have kidnapped them?" Balthazar asked.  
Adeline nodded. "I do. They must be powerful to bind someone's powers so fully that I can't find them,"  
"So there's no chance you can find him?" Skulduggery said.  
"I'll keep trying but I don't think I will. Don't touch that, Kaeldra," Adeline directed her last comment at Kaeldra who was pulling a book out of the shelves.  
Kaeldra looked back at Adeline and said "Where'd you find this book? I can never find it!"  
"Which ones that? Quiditch Through The Ages, right? Took me forever to find it. So please put it back," Adeline said, smiling proudly. Kaeldra slipped the book back into its place.  
"So how many Harry Potter books do you have?" Kaeldra asked, walking over.  
Balthazar cleared his throat loudly. "If you've quite finished,"  
"Right. Sorry," Kaeldra said.  
"It's been nice seeing you Adeline but we should get going. It's going to take us a while to figure out who has Dave," Skulduggery said.  
"Of course. I'll call you if I find anything," Adeline said. "Bye Valkyrie,"  
Valkyrie grumbled under her breath as the four walked out.  
"So what are you planning to do now, Balthazar?" Kaeldra asked as they reached the car.  
"I don't know. I think I'll call Veronica and let her know what we've found out, but after that I just don't know,"


	3. Chapter 3

The Case of the Prime Merlinian: Chapter 3

The parking lot was almost empty as the Bentley pulled up beside the old tenant building. Skulduggery climbed out from behind the wheel and waited for Balthazar, Kaeldra and Valkyrie to clamber out after him.

"It's been a while since I've seen China," Balthazar said to Skulduggery as Valkyrie led the way up to the third floor, "She's no longer as unreliable I suppose?"

"No, she's just as undependable as always, although she's helped me a lot," Skulduggery replied, knocking on the door marked 'library'.

"Just like her. Oh, yes. Kaeldra, remember what I told you about spells like a glamour? China uses something similar to that," Balthazar said, stepping back to walk beside his apprentice.

"Uh, the enhancing your appearance sort of thing?" Kaeldra replied. A man opened the door and started to lead them through the maze of bookshelves.

Balthazar nodded. "The one Veronica was teaching you. She said you were pretty good at countering it when she tried to trick you with hers,"

"Right. I can manage that," Kaeldra said.

They reached a desk in a small space in the shelves and standing in front of the desk was a black haired woman, with pale blue eyes. Kaeldra felt some kind of magic radiating from the woman, who was obviously China Sorrows, and focused on the books surrounding her. She instantly felt the magic lessen, and looked at China who didn't seem quite as beautiful as she had before.

"Balthazar. It's been a long time. The last I heard you were destroying Morgana in New York," China said, smiling at Balthazar.  
"You don't miss much do you," Balthazar replied.  
"Well, I must have missed something, seeing as I don't recognise this young girl behind you,"

"I'm Kaeldra, Balthazar's apprentice,"  
"Oh? I was sure it was David who was working with you, Balthazar.'' China said, and she almost sounded puzzled.  
"It's nice to see you too, China. Thanks for asking China," Valkyrie butted in.  
"I would have gotten to you eventually, Valkyrie. But since you're so impatient, hello. And I can see Skulduggery is about to follow your lead, so I'm going to choose to ignore him," China said.

"I'm taking that as you have no idea what has happened to Dave recently then?" Balthazar said, frowning.

"The last thing I heard about Dave was that he saved the world. I would be right to say you came here to see if I had any news regarding something bad happening to him?" China replied, looking to Skulduggery.

"That'd be right," Skulduggery told her. Balthazar paced forward a few steps and began tapping his nails on a bookshelf.  
"So Skulduggery, what's your next move? Your always full of ideas," China said to the Detective.

"We have nothing to go off, so I don't really know," Skulduggery replied. His phone started to ring so he stepped away to answer it.

"What now, Balthazar? Should we talk to Veronica or something? Maybe she knows something by now," Kaeldra said to Balthazar.

"You don't need to," Skulduggery said quickly, walking back over. "That was the Administrator. She said Veronica's there and didn't know how to contact you, Balthazar,"

"Why would Veronica be here?" Kaeldra said to no one in particular.

"Something bad must have happened. Let's get going. Nice seeing you China," Balthazar said and headed straight out.

"We'll talk to you soon." Skulduggery said to China and followed Balthazar out. Valkyrie waved to her and Kaeldra muttered "Bye," as the four moved quickly back down the stairs to the Bentley.

They all climbed into the car and Skulduggery, knowing how anxious Balthazar was, sped through the streets to the sanctuary.

When the car stopped Balthazar was out of the car and hurrying into the Wax Works. By the time Skulduggery, Valkyrie and Kaeldra caught up with him, he was already heading down into the Sanctuary.

"Balthazar!" came the anxious call from the foyer.

"Veronica, what happened? Are you alright?" Balthazar said, hurrying to Veronica and taking her hands.

Veronica pushed him back slightly as she said "I'm fine. Nothing happened to me, but when I was heading to Dave's lab like we decided, a man ran past me and threw this at me,"

_This_ was a crumpled note that Veronica held out to Balthazar. It was covered in small, neat writing.

He read it out quietly:

"Balthazar Blake,

Since you took it upon yourself to kill my apprentice, I thought I would return the favour.

Unless, of course, you are willing to come yourself to my address. You ought to remember where that is, since the last time you were there you half destroyed the place.

Thyconn Skelton,"

Balthazar screwed up the note and threw it away, and swore quietly. Veronica put a hand on his shoulder.

"Who-" Kaeldra started, but Balthazar cut her off.

"Thyconn Skelton, Abigail Williams master. He was neither a Merlinian nor a Morganian and when Abigail tried to take the Grimhold and I locked her in it, he swore revenge. But when Horvath killed her, Thyconn must have believed that it was my fault,"

"And Thyconn is one of the strongest sorcerers I have ever met," Veronica added.

"So, at least now we know who it is, and where we have to go," Skulduggery said, scanning over the note that he had retrieved.

"We? I don't think so. I'm going. Alone," Balthazar said, already heading for the door.

Skulduggery grabbed Balthazar's arm and pulled him back. "You're not doing this alone, Balthazar. You know better than I do that if Thyconn wants revenge, he'll take it, and not just on you. You are going to need help on this,"

Balthazar nodded, but didn't say anything.

"I'm coming too of course," Veronica said, and her tone said that she wouldn't be changing her mind. Balthazar smiled at her.

"I really shouldn't be happy about that, but-"

"What about us then? You're not leaving me and Valkyrie here," Kaeldra interrupted stubbornly. Valkyrie nodded in conformation.

"Kaeldra, you've been learning magic for less than a week. There is no way I am letting you come," Balthazar said. The look on Veronica's face showed that she agreed with him.

"And you let Dave fight Morgana, on his own, without a ring, and he had been practicing magic for how long exactly?"

"Dave was twenty years old Kaeldra,_ you_ are fourteen," Balthazar retorted.

"If I may interrupt," Skulduggery said, "You said it yourself, Balthazar. We're going to need all the help we can get. I don't particularly want to take Valkyrie, not when Thyconn is so strong, but I trust she can handle it,"

"I'm pretty sure that he's going to be attacking you guys before he comes for us anyway," Valkyrie put in, and Balthazar shook his head.

"It pains me to admit it, but it seems I've been outsmarted by two teenagers and a skeleton," Balthazar said, a grin coming on out on his face.

"Now that we've solved that problem, would you like to tell us where Skelton's place is?" Skulduggery said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

"I don't know _where_ it is exactly, but I know how to get there. The last time I went it was an accident. I opened a rift in space and, since I was after Abigail at the time, it opened at his house. Although, I think castle is more correct." Balthazar said, and Skulduggery nodded.

"Doesn't it take hours to open a rift though? I mean, for one person it's easy enough, but for all five of us?" Veronica asked.

"Usually, but once I've opened a rift to somewhere, it's easy, because all I have to do is re-open it, not create it," Balthazar replied, "Plus, because we can all use magic, it will use all of our strengths, not just mine,"

"Should we be going then?" Valkyrie asked, as impatient as always.

"Probably a good idea," Skulduggery replied, "Do you need any particular place to open it?"

Balthazar shook his head. "Just give me a minute, and we can go through,"

Kaeldra and Valkyrie looked at each other and grinned, and when they looked back to Balthazar, there was a slight haze to the air in front of him. The haze quickly darkened and split down the middle. The split was about two meters high and barely half a meter across, and the centre of it was a bright white. The air crackled slightly around it.

"Alright, head through. I'll come through last so I can close it again," Balthazar ordered. Veronica walked straight into the white and disappeared. Kaeldra followed her through, and there was a bright flash and she stepped out onto a grassy driveway. Valkyrie stumbled out next to her and they walked forward to Veronica, as Skulduggery walked out. Valkyrie looked back to see Balthazar stride out and the rift closed behind him.

Kaeldra glanced around and saw only a few trees and grass that looked about waist deep. There was a small bird circling over head, but she couldn't see any other living things

"So, where is this castle supposed to be?" Kaeldra said, looking over to Balthazar.

"Just wait a moment," He said.

Within seconds a section of the grass seemed to move less and there was a slight buzzing in the air. Then a castle faded up from nothing.

"Wow." Valkyrie gaped at the castle.

"I want you two to wait here," Balthazar said to Kaeldra and Valkyrie, "If we need you to come in we'll signal you somehow,"

"Really?" Kaeldra said in disbelief.

"Yes, it's not a bad idea. We can have you here if we need any more help," Skulduggery answered her.

"Fine with me," Valkyrie said.

Balthazar looked at Kaeldra and raised an eyebrow. "Fine," She muttered.

"Good. Wait here and we'll be back soon." Veronica told the girls.

Balthazar, Skulduggery and Veronica headed quickly towards the castle. The girls watched them as they disappeared around the side.

Valkyrie sighed and dropped onto the ground.

"You're not just going to sit there are you?" Came a voice from behind them.

Kaeldra jumped and whirled around to see Adeline standing behind them. Valkyrie groaned when she saw who it was and didn't bother to stand up.

"Your late," Adeline said, tapping her wrist were a watch would be.

"What do you mean?" Kaeldra asked.

"I saw a vision of you all getting here, but you got here later then you were supposed to. And just so you know, in about five minutes those three are going to be beaten by Skelton and we're going to need to help them," Adeline said, matter-of-factly.

Valkyrie jumped to her feet. "If this is really going to happen, then shouldn't we be going in after them? Unless you're wrong, of course,"

"Not just yet. They only just entered. If you go barging in now you'll just get caught with them. And my visions have never been wrong," Adeline replied.

"She's right. We can't help them just yet." Kaeldra said.

Adeline made a face a Valkyrie, and Valkyrie sighed and sat back down. The grass almost reached her shoulders. No one said anything for a moment.

"Adeline, could you turn into something and follow them? That way we can find our way in after them," Kaeldra suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Adeline replied and within seconds a small white bird was hovering where she had been standing. "I'll be back soon," It was a strange thing to hear a human voice coming out of a tiny bird beak, and Kaeldra watched as Adeline flew off towards the castle.

Kaeldra dropped onto the ground to sit beside Valkyrie and brought her knees up to her chest.

"Have you ever done anything like this before?" Kaeldra asked.

"Well, sort of. We rescued Skulduggery from a castle, but I didn't do a whole lot," Valkyrie replied, "Have you ever been in anything like this?"

"I, uh, punched a girl in the face once, but I don't think that's really the slightest bit like this,"

"Yeah, that's probably not going to be any help in there," Valkyrie said.

"Probably," Kaeldra agreed and they lapsed into silence again.

A few minutes passed and nothing passed between the two girls.

"Look!" Kaeldra said, jumping to her feet and pointing.

Valkyrie squinted and could just make out the shape of the white Adeline-bird flying quickly towards them. The two girls ran towards the bird and as they reached each other the bird landed on the ground. A second later Adeline was standing in front of them.

"I was right, he bet them." Adeline said straight away, "He has them locked in one of the tower rooms. I have no idea how its holding them in there, but it defiantly works. I saw Dave and Becky in there two,"

"So you could lead us to the room?" Valkyrie asked.

"I will, but you two won't make it in the door, not like that," Adeline replied.

"Like what?" Kaeldra said, defiantly puzzled.

"Being able to be seen basically. It was hard enough getting in as a bird,"

"So what are we supposed to do about that?" Valkyrie asked venomously.

"This," Adeline said. She placed her hand on Valkyrie's shoulder and Valkyrie was instantly turned into a small black bird.

"What the-" Valkyrie said, hovering in the air beside Adeline.

"How did you do that?" Kaeldra asked, staring at Valkyrie, "I thought you could only transform yourself,"

"I can do a lot more than most people know," Adeline replied, "Do you want me to change you, or can you do something?"

"I can mirror the light so I become basically invisible. It's hard, but I should be able to do it for long enough," Kaeldra told her. She frowned, waving her hands slightly, and she gradually faded away.

"Wow," Valkyrie said, swooping forward to see the very faint haze that was all that was visible of Kaeldra.

"Think it'll do?" Kaeldra asked. It was eerie, hearing her voice but not seeing where it came from.

"I can't see you, so it should be enough to get in," Adeline answered, and she turned into the white bird again. "Come on, and stay close to me. Kaeldra, try to make some noise every now and then so we still know you're there,"

Kaeldra nodded, and then she remembered that they couldn't see her. "Right,"

They headed quickly towards the castle. The only thing that could give them away was two small birds and a faint blurring of the air beside them.


End file.
